Shades of the Kyron Horman Case in a Separate Washington Mystery

As the case of missing Kyron Horman enters its third month, folks in Central Washington are dealing with their own high-profile investigation in the murder of Wenatchee High School senior Mackenzie Cowell.

Both cases are being conducted by multi-agency task forces that have released very little public information despite fervent interest in each investigation. Now, one big difference has emerged. But before we get into that difference, here's some background on the Washington case.

Cowell, 17, was last seen in a parking lot Feb. 9 behind Wenatchee's Academy of Hair Design, where she was a student. Her abandoned car was found that night on a rural road outside of town, and her body was discovered Feb. 13 about 30 miles away near the shore of the Columbia River.

The cause of death was listed as manual strangulation and a stab wound to the neck. No arrests have been made, and investigators have yet to name a suspect.

Now, here's the difference between the two local sheriffs dealing with the task forces.

Here, Multnomah County Sheriff Dan Staton has so far been a team player, declining to give details of the investigation even when cornered by the press. But up in Wenatchee, Chelan County Sheriff Mike Harum has gone rogue.

According to The Wenatchee World (I was a reporter there from 2002 to 2005 and still follow the news like a soap opera), Harum made waves this week telling the paper that investigators believe Cowell was murdered by someone she knew.

Harum went further, saying he's been frustrated by the task force's refusal to release information Harum believes could help solve the case. He said he's been at odds with the task force for months over the issue. Harum said the task force stopped talking to him after he previously revealed that investigators were unable to retrieve some cell-phone records because Verizon had apparently lost them.

The Cowell case is nearly six months old. It will be interesting to see what information gets released about the Kyron case—and by whom—as the investigation continues.

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